Finance Committee on Feb. 12th, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

I call this meeting to order.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to meeting number 26 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format. Because we have a lot of people joining us online, I want to reiterate the process and the procedures for a hybrid format.

I would like to remind participants of the following points: Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you. For those participating by video conference, click on the microphone icon to activate your mic, and please mute yourself when you are not speaking.

For those on Zoom, you have a choice for the interpretation. At the bottom of your screen, you can select floor, English or French.

For those in the room, you can use the earpiece and select the desired channel.

For members participating in person or via Zoom, please raise your hand if you wish to speak. The committee clerks and I will do the best we can to maintain a consolidated speaking order. I will give a reminder that all comments should be addressed through the chair.

Pursuant to the order of reference of Wednesday, December 10, 2025, and the motion adopted on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, the committee will resume consideration of Bill C-15, an act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on November 4, 2025.

I would like to now take a moment to welcome and introduce the witnesses who are joining us today.

We have Carol Wilding, chief executive officer, from the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario.

From the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec, we have Hubert Rioux, economic director, and Mathieu Lavigne, acting vice-president, public and economic affairs.

We have Adriana Vega, the executive director of Fintechs Canada, as well as Jessica Oliver, the head of government and regulatory relations at Wealthsimple.

You will have five minutes for your opening remarks.

We will begin with Ms. Wilding, please.

[Carol Wilding, Chief Executive Officer, Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Good morning, everyone.

Thank you, honourable members of the committee, for inviting me to speak today.

As president and CEO of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario, I'm here to bring the perspectives of more than 105,000 CPAs in Ontario, which is almost half of all CPAs in the country, to this important discussion on budget 2025, Bill C-15 and the future of the Canadian economy.

At Davos, Prime Minister Carney laid out the stakes. Canada's economy is facing a “rupture,”,not a “transition”. He said, “We have a recognition of what's happening and a determination to act accordingly.”

Given the foundational role that CPAs play in Canada's capital markets and the economy, the profession is ready and willing to step up and help drive the economic growth that Canada needs now more than ever.

As tax practitioners and advisers, CPAs understand the important role that tax policy plays in empowering growth or constraining it, which is why we were pleased to see Bill C-15 propose some important measures to address long-standing issues with Canada's tax system.

For instance, CPA Ontario has advocated the restoration of the accelerated investment incentive through the productivity superdeduction. This reinstatement will help to boost investment and allow faster depreciation of capital assets. It will enable firms to recover capital costs more quickly, enhance cash flow and encourage reinvestment into Canadian businesses and Canadian workers.

Capital is always looking for stability. In times of upheaval, certainty would be a competitive advantage for Canada, which is why the accelerated investment incentive and other provisions in the productivity superdeduction would be even more impactful if they were made permanent. Investment is key to Canada's future, but that investment needs to go to the sectors where it will yield the greatest benefit.

Our natural resources are still essential for building Canada's future, but we all know that the global economy has changed. Intangible assets, such as intellectual property, artificial intelligence and data now play a critical role in economic prosperity and national sovereignty. Our tax system must evolve to reflect this reality.

The simplification and expansion of the SR and ED tax credit in Bill C-15 was a welcome change, and one that Canada's innovators and entrepreneurs have long advocated, but this is not a moment that can be met with incrementalism. Canada must be bold, ambitious and willing to act. We must recognize that after decades of a piecemeal approach to tax policy, we have a system that is unwieldy and complex, and that complexity is a barrier to investment and growth.

As tax specialists, CPAs can see the consequences first-hand as capital is diverted away from where it can be put to the best use. Bill C-15 makes some efforts to address this, including through the proposed elimination of some inefficient tax expenditures, but we are still a long way off from a necessary and, frankly, overdue broad review of Canada's tax system—a robust expert review that could be used as a blueprint for a tax system that drives growth, competitiveness and productivity for Canada. Reforming our tax system will help Canada attract the investment, entrepreneurship and talent that will grow our economy, create jobs and raise the standard of living for all Canadians.

Echoing Prime Minister Carney, “Nostalgia is not a strategy”. He also said, “Now we need to execute. Fairly. And fast.”

Thank you. I look forward to answering any questions you may have.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you so much, Ms. Wilding.

We will now hear from the representatives of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec.

You have the floor for five minutes.

[Mathieu Lavigne, Acting Vice-President, Public and Economic Affairs, Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec]

Good morning.

I'd like to thank the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance for inviting us to speak today as part of its study of Bill C‑15, an act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on November 4, 2025.

The Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec has more than 1,000 member companies and 120 chambers of commerce. In all, we represent more than 40,000 organizations in every region of Quebec and in all sectors of the economy.

We were in Ottawa last fall to analyze the budget and react to it. Furthermore, every year, we submit pre-budget briefs in both Quebec City and Ottawa to express Quebec companies' consensus on fiscal and budgetary policy.

I want to come back to the budget and the bill being studied today.

As we've heard, the budget was meant to be transformative and focused on investment and defence. I would also reiterate how important it is for Canada to quickly implement a defence industrial strategy, since Quebec is in an excellent position to secure a significant share of defence investments.

Let's start by highlighting a number of good measures that address some of the requests we'd also made.

The scientific research and experimental development, or SR and ED, tax incentives will finally be enhanced and modernized. That's great news. Support towards increased private investment in innovation must continue.

The productivity superdeduction, which the previous speaker talked about, is also a good measure along the same lines.

Then, there's the elimination of the luxury tax applicable to aircraft which is very well received. This tax applied to one of our strategic industries, and its elimination was very well received by the Quebec aerospace industry.

I would also like to highlight the build communities strong fund that was announced. It will invest $51 billion over 10 years in local infrastructure. We're obviously hoping for a rapid rollout, and the Quebec regions will have to receive their fair share of this fund.

When it comes to business succession, we totally support increasing the lifetime capital gains exemption to $1.25 million. This is particularly significant in Quebec. It is expected that more than 50,000 companies will go through a transfer of ownership by 2030. That's like tomorrow. It is therefore very important to implement those types of measures.

That said, we are disappointed to see that the Canadian entrepreneurs' incentive introduced in the previous budget is being cancelled, as it would have reduced the capital gains inclusion rate.

Regarding Bill C‑15 in particular, we also support the proposed amendment to the Red Tape Reduction Act, which would allow ministers to grant temporary regulatory exemptions, known as regulatory sandboxes. This logic must be systematized, both in Ottawa and Quebec City, as long as it's done in a transparent way and with well-defined objective criteria.

Now, here's what we would have liked to see either in the budget or in Bill C‑15, or in both.

Regarding general corporate taxes, there is no relief planned for companies as a whole. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act in the U.S. is a turning point for our tax competitiveness and our ability to attract investment. More specifically, we asked for an increase in the small business deduction that could have helped all small and medium-sized businesses, or SMBs, in Quebec and Canada.

Also, regarding development, research and innovation, there are still some tax incentives missing to help market patented innovations. Quebec offers such a deduction, the incentive deduction for the commercialization of innovations, or IDCI. We would've liked to see something similar in Ottawa.

As the previous speaker said, the accelerated incentive is a good thing. It needs to be made permanent rather than sunsetting after 2030. The U.S. has made it permanent. We have to be competitive. Eligibility could also be increased.

Also, you can't talk to federal parliamentarians without talking about temporary foreign workers. We're still asking for a complete moratorium on the imposed restrictions. They are having real-life impacts. Quebec businesses are terminating contracts and abandoning investment projects because of the lack of temporary foreign workers.

When it comes to government procurement, policies on reciprocal procurement, such as buy Canadian, should apply to some strategic open bids, namely those of Via Rail.

Regarding exports, the target of doubling exports outside the U.S. is very ambitious. That said, we feel the announced support measures are insufficient to meet this goal. The government could have exempted some of the revenue derived from selling products in new markets. Various measures could've been adopted to facilitate exports.

As for the financial assistance granted to the various sectors affected by the U.S. tariffs, companies have been telling us that the criteria are too restrictive and the funds are difficult to access. That's an important element.

I will conclude by talking about the telecommunications sector.

In all, 188 local and regional media outlets disappeared in Quebec between 2008 and 2026. We would've liked to see more related measures. Recent decisions by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, or CRTC, will discourage regional investment. Reform in this area is badly needed.

There you go. That covers some of what we discussed in our brief and what we reacted to in terms of the budget. We'll have an opportunity to come back to all this during the question period.

Thank you for inviting us.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you, Mr. Lavigne.

We will continue with Ms. Vega from Fintechs Canada for five minutes, please.

[Adriana Vega, Executive Director, Fintechs Canada]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Good morning. My name is Adriana Vega, and I am the executive director of Fintechs Canada. Fintechs Canada is the leading voice for Canada's financial technology sector. Collectively, our more than 50 members serve millions of Canadians across the country every day.

Thank you for the invitation to appear today to discuss Bill C-15. If passed and implemented, the financial sector reforms included in this budget bill will help make life more affordable for Canadians and will make our economy more productive.

As we know, our financial sector is highly concentrated, and over time, this has had real impacts on Canadians' ability to hold agency over their money. It has also limited access to capital, both for individuals and, critically, for our small businesses.

Canada has not kept up with the rest of the world in boosting competition in our financial sector, limiting Canadians' access to broader choice and to bespoke and affordable offerings.

The reforms included in Bill C-15, concretely those introducing Canada's open banking regime, are hugely welcome and are long overdue. When in force, the consumer-driven banking act will make the financial sector work better and harder for Canadians.

By way of example, research by the Competition Bureau estimates that, in the insurance sector alone, a data portability framework could save Canadians between $1 billion and $3.8 billion annually.

Also, in the BIA is the stablecoin act. This is an ambitious piece of legislation that responds to industry calls for a federal framework, and it is one that we believe will support Canada's sovereignty in the future of finance.

However, the road ahead is still long. Regulation still needs to be developed, and we now need to focus on striking the right balance that provides clarity, certainty and safety and that preserves the pro-competition spirit of the law.

Canada has a unique opportunity to leverage consumer-driven banking and transformative technologies like stablecoins to provide a long overdue boost to our economy, and delaying is not an option.

Thank you for the invitation, and I look forward to your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you, Ms. Vega.

I will now turn to Ms. Oliver from Wealthsimple for five minutes.

[Jessica Oliver, Head, Government and Regulatory Relations, Wealthsimple Investment Inc.]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I would also like to thank the members of the committee for inviting me to testify this morning. It's a pleasure to be here.

Founded in Toronto in 2014, Wealthsimple is now one of Canada's most trusted financial institutions. We serve more than three million clients from coast to coast to coast, holding over $100 billion in assets on their behalf. We've pioneered products that have driven down the cost of financial services, from commission-free stock and ETF trading to no-fee, interest-bearing chequing accounts. In 2025 we saved our clients an estimated $1.3 billion in fees and paid out more than $200 million in interest in everyday chequing accounts.

The budget implementation act that your committee is considering enacts key legislative changes we regard as critical to building a more competitive, dynamic and consumer-centred financial sector. These include the completion of the open banking framework, which, when combined with the launch of real-time payment settlement, will make managing money faster, safer and cheaper for Canadians; and the creation of legislation regulating stablecoins, which will enable Canadian companies to bring Canadian dollar stablecoins to market, offer settlement efficiencies and bolster our monetary sovereignty. We're pleased to see Parliament thoroughly considering the legislation and hope to see the process conclude promptly.

The most immediately impactful change for Canadian consumers of financial products in budget 2025 is the government's promise to introduce measures this spring to prohibit exit fees on investment and registered accounts. These fees have skyrocketed in the past decade. In February 2016 a CBC consumer report found that the last of the big banks had introduced an exit fee on TFSAs, moving from zero to $75. Less than a decade later, transfer fees are a near-ubiquitous $150 per account. At the same time, the number of accounts Canadians hold has increased dramatically thanks to the wonderful popularity of the TFSA and FHSA.

While Canadians have some of the lowest rates of chequing account switching, competition among investment platforms is healthy. This is a good thing. It means consumers are engaged and making decisions. We continue to see record inbound and outbound transfers, because consumers are shopping around, but last year, clients transferring accounts to Wealthsimple were charged more than $60 million in exit fees. In January 2026 it was $10 million. These flat fees fall hardest on younger Canadians and those with smaller balances—the very people these accounts are designed to protect. It costs Wealthsimple about two dollars to process an outbound transfer, and we don't charge a fee.

I want to share two real examples of what this looks like for regular Canadians. A 25-year-old man from Calgary transferred four accounts—a TFSA, RRSP, FHSA and non-registered account—from a major bank. All four transfers were processed electronically in under a week. The administrative cost to the bank was a few dollars. He was charged $600. These fees bear no relationship to the actual cost of processing a transfer.

Meanwhile, a 71-year-old retired bank executive in northern Ontario transferred her savings—a TFSA, RRSP and LIRA. Investments in the amount of $2 million were liquidated, and cash was withdrawn from her account. The funds didn't arrive at Wealthsimple for 26 business days, costing her more than $10,000 in foregone interest and exposing her to market volatility. She paid $459 in fees.

These are not isolated examples. When inbound transfers peaked in March 2025, our clients had $3 billion in transit from other institutions.

Putting aside the discussion on execution costs, delays benefit the sending institution at the client's expense. During a manual transfer, the client's capital is removed from their account and placed on the sending institution's balance sheet, available to be deployed for profit as loans or to meet liquidity requirements, without any corresponding benefit to the client. It's not acceptable.

The federal government regulates registered accounts through the Income Tax Act.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Ms. Oliver, could I ask you to wrap up, please?

[Jessica Oliver]

Yes.

We recognize that there is some jurisdictional complexity, but the absence of a panacea within the purview of a single level of government or regulator—

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you, Ms. Oliver. I have to cut it off there. We've concluded the time.

[Jessica Oliver]

Okay. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

We're going to begin our first round of questioning.

Mr. Lefebvre, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I want to thank all the witnesses who are here, as well as those participating by video conference.

I'm going to take advantage of the representatives of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec joining us by video conference to ask them questions. Good morning to you, by the way.

I have here the recommendations you made. One of them relates to a hot topic, which is the temporary foreign worker program, or TFWP.

This week, I asked the Minister of Finance if he supported a grandfather clause, as they are commonly known, and he never answered my question.

What do you think of a grandfather clause for Quebec entrepreneurs?

[Mathieu Lavigne]

Good morning, Mr. Lefebvre. Thank you for the question. I welcome the opportunity to speak with you.

We were in Ottawa last week with business leaders to talk specifically about the changes to the temporary foreign worker program.

Right now, the federal government is not renewing licences because of the restrictions that were put in place just over a year ago. In concrete terms, companies have to cancel contracts and suspend investment projects because of a labour shortage. Extremely difficult decisions have to be made in many regions and sectors.

What we're asking is for the federal government to, at the very least, retain and reassure the workers who are already working here, in companies, and who are integrated. It must be done. These are extremely difficult decisions for our economy right now.

We see this situation in Montreal and in the regions, and in many sectors such as hospitality, manufacturing and food services. There is no short-term solution, other than retaining these workers. The government must act now.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Thank you for that. That said, has the government committed to anything?

We know the problem is in the regions. When the unemployment rate is below 5.5%, it's critical.

Did you get a commitment from government officials during your meetings?

[Mathieu Lavigne]

No.

Actually, we think the issue is that that the federal government and the Government of Quebec are playing political football when it comes to temporary foreign workers. What we're asking both governments is to come to an agreement or implement the measures they manage. The federal government manages the temporary foreign worker program, so it can take action.

I'd like to add something on this subject, because we're talking about financial aspects. We consulted companies on this program, and those affected have already suffered financial losses because of the new restrictions. On average, they lost $500,000. Businesses expect losses of $2 million on average over the next two years. That's just an average, because the bigger the company, the more temporary foreign workers it employs, the bigger the financial impact.

This is obviously a humanitarian issue, but it's also an economic issue for businesses. They use the TFWP because they can't find local workers. It's that simple. The program is complicated and expensive. They only turn to the TFWP as a last resort.

We must prevent this exodus, because the consequences will affect all local and Quebec workers in the company. Without a program for welders or electromechanical engineers, the company's accountant and sales manager will also be at risk of losing their job. One-third of affected businesses tell us they fear for their survival if these restrictions are not lifted.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

I'll give you the example of Ideal Cargo, a company in my region. You talked about welders, temporary employees who've been in the country for a few years and who do a tremendous job. I'm talking about jobs in small villages, where the spouse works at the convenience store or restaurant, keeping our small villages alive. It's important to point that out. The children have also integrated.

I used to be an entrepreneur in the manufacturing sector, more specifically in roof truss manufacturing. We always hear that what's important is predictability. Right now, businesses can't predict what will happen next.

I'll go back to the example of Ideal Cargo. In the coming months, another six employees will lose their jobs if their contracts aren't renewed. It's really dramatic. As you say, the order books are full.

[Mathieu Lavigne]

You mentioned Idéal Cargo. We were in Ottawa last week. Representatives from CIF Métal were there as well. Their company is experiencing the same thing. If it can no longer rely on certain workers for a part of its production or a specific link in its value chain, that will affect the rest of the company.

That particular company has workers from the Philippines. The program is very important because some of those workers can't apply for permanent residence yet. They don't yet have the level of French the Government of Quebec requires.

We can't just tell them to apply to the program to become permanent workers. They can't do that yet because they don't have the required level of French. That's exactly why this program was created.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Thank you.

Can you talk more about balancing the budget?

You talked about how important it is to balance the budget.

I asked the Minister of Finance about this. He told me that the world has changed and that no time horizon has been set for balancing the budget.

Talk to me about that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

It will have to be very brief, Mr. Lavigne.

[Hubert Rioux, Economic Director, Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec]

I'm going to answer the question. My name is Hubert Rioux, and I'm the economic director of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec.

We are indeed asking Ottawa for balanced budget legislation similar to Quebec's, because that will make budget policies predictable over time.

We know that Canada is in a relatively good debt-to-GDP position. However, when we look at government debt across Canada, it's a different story.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

I'm sorry, Mr. Rioux, I have to stop you there, because time is up.

Thank you, Mr. Lefebvre.

Mr. Leitão, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Carlos Leitão, Liberal, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Welcome, everyone. Thank you to the witnesses for being here.

I only have six minutes, but I think I'll get another turn in the second round of questions at the end if we all behave ourselves. We'll see if I get more time.

I'll start with the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec representatives.

Gentlemen, thank you for being with us. I have a lot to say, but the goal is not for me to speak; it's for you to tell me your opinion.

Mr. Lavigne, generally speaking, how would you describe your members' opinion of the federal budget?

[Mathieu Lavigne]

Thank you for the question, Mr. Leitão.

Overall, it's positive, because, as I said, it focuses on two important issues: increasing private investment and defence. We identified those two priorities in our pre-budget submission.

I also listed a number of positive measures in my introductory remarks. Overall, our members view the federal budget positively.